Two former executives of foreign defense contractor Glenn Defense Marine Asia (GDMA) were sentenced on August 12, 2107 for conspiring to submit bogus claims and invoices to the U.S. Navy in an effort to win contracts and overcharge the U.S. Navy by tens of millions of dollars as part of a years-long corruption and fraud scheme.

The case is the latest in a series of convictions spanning more than two years and involving Leonard Glenn Francis, the former CEO of GDMA, a defense contracting firm based in Singapore. Francis’ reputation for corruption and bribery in recent years has led him to be nicknamed “Fat Leonard.” (See The Washington Post article, “The Man Who Seduced the 7th Fleet,” here.)

In the latest conviction, Neil Peterson, 39, and Linda Raja, 44, both of Singapore, were sentenced to 70 and 46 months, respectively, by U.S. District Judge Janis L. Sammartino of the Southern District of California. Both worked as chief deputies for GDMA, which was owned by “Fat Leonard” Francis. Peterson served as the vice president for global operations for GDMA and Raja served as GDMA’s general manager for Singapore, Australia and the Pacific Isles.

Both defendants were arrested by authorities in Singapore at the request of the U.S. government and were extradited on Oct. 28, 2016. They each pleaded guilty in May 2017 to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States with respect to claims.

According to admissions made as part of Peterson’s and Raja’s plea agreements, they and other members of GDMA’s management team created and submitted fraudulent bids that were either entirely fictitious, contained falsified prices supposedly from actual businesses, or fraudulently stated that the business shown on the letterhead could not provide the items or services requested. In this manner, Peterson, Raja and other members of GDMA’s core management team could ensure that GDMA’s quote would be selected by the U.S. Navy as the supposed low bidder. GDMA could thus control and inflate the prices charged to the U.S. Navy without any true, competitive bidding, as required, they admitted.

Peterson and Raja admitted that they and other members of the GDMA management team knowingly created and approved fictitious port authorities with fraudulently inflated port tariff rates, and approved the presentation of such fraudulent documents to the U.S. Navy. GDMA thus charged inflated prices to the U.S. Navy, rather than what GDMA actually paid to the bona fide port authorities.

For example, Peterson and Raja admitted that for the visit of the U.S.S. Bonhomme Richard to Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, in or about October 2012, under the direction of Peterson and other members of GDMA’s core management team, false documents and inflated invoices were presented to the U.S. Navy. The full amount billed to the U.S. Navy for this visit was $1,232,858, of which approximately $877,413 was fraudulently inflated, Peterson and Raja admitted.

Peterson and Raja admitted that losses to the U.S. Navy exceeded $34,800,000 as a result of this scheme.

So far, 17 of 27 defendants charged in the U.S. Navy bribery and fraud scandal have pleaded guilty. All defendants are presumed innocent unless and until convicted beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The DCIS, NCIS and the Defense Contract Audit Agency are continuing to investigate.

A former U.S. naval attache to the U.S. embassy in the Philippines has been sentenced to 41 months in prison for illicitly secured diplomatic clearances for a Malaysian defense contractor in exchange for luxury watches and the services of prostitutes.

Retired Navy Capt. Michael Brooks was sentenced Friday in federal court in San Diego after pleading guilty to bribery charges last year in the Navy’s worst corruption scandal, which helped line the pockets of a Singapore-based businessman, Leonard Francis, nicknamed “Fat Leonard.”

U.S. District Judge Janis L. Sammartino ordered Brooks, 59, of Fairfax Station, Virginia, to pay a $40,000 fine and $31,000 in restitution to the U.S. Navy.

Retired U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Bruce Loveless and eight other high-ranking Navy officers have been charged in a federal indictment with accepting luxury travel, elaborate dinners and services of prostitutes from foreign defense contractor Leonard Francis, the former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Glenn Defense Marine Asia (GDMA), in exchange for classified and internal U.S. Navy information.

The Justice Department’s Criminal Division, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) made the announcement yesterday (Mar. 14, 2017). This action is the latest in a string of guilty pleas, indictments and convictions – spanning more than three years – related to alleged fraudulent activities of GDMA and its chief executive, Leonard Glenn “Fat Leonard” Francis.

To date, a total of 25 named individuals have been charged in connection with the corruption and fraud investigation into GDMA, a defense-contracting firm based in Singapore. Of those charged, 20 are current or former U.S. Navy officials and five are GDMA executives. So far, 13 have pleaded guilty while several other cases are pending.

Francis’ reputation for corruption and bribery in recent years has led him to be nicknamed “Fat Leonard.” (For background, see The Washington Post article, “The Man Who Seduced the 7th Fleet,” here.)

The allegations contained in the latest indictments expose flagrant corruption among several senior officers previously assigned to the U.S. Navy’s Seventh Fleet. Nine defendants were arrested yesterday on various charges including bribery, conspiracy to commit bribery, honest services fraud, obstruction of justice and making false statements to federal investigators when confronted about their actions.

According to the indictment, the Navy officers allegedly participated in a bribery scheme with “Fat” Leonard Francis, in which the officers accepted travel and entertainment expenses, the services of prostitutes and lavish gifts in exchange for helping to steep lucrative contracts to Francis and GDMA – and to sabotage competing defense contractors. The defendants allegedly violated many of their sworn official naval duties, including duties related to the handling of classified information and duties related to the identification and reporting of foreign intelligence threats. According to the indictment, the defendants allegedly worked in concert to recruit new members for the conspiracy, and to keep the conspiracy secret by using fake names and foreign email service providers. According to the indictment, the bribery scheme allegedly cost the Navy – and U.S. taxpayers – tens of millions of dollars.

A U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander was sentenced on Jan. 12, 2017 to 30 months in prison for accepting cash, hotel expenses and the services of a prostitute from foreign defense contractor Glenn Defense Marine Asia (GDMA) in exchange for classified Navy information.

This action is the latest in a 3-year string of guilty pleas, indictments and convictions related to alleged fraudulent activities of GDMA and its chief executive, Leonard Glenn “Fat Leonard” Francis.

GDMA won contracts from the Navy worth more than $200 million since 2009. The contracts were for port services to U.S. Navy ships and submarines throughout the Pacific.

Francis’ reputation for corruption and bribery in recent years has led him to be nicknamed “Fat Leonard.” (For background, see The Washington Post article, “The Man Who Seduced the 7th Fleet,” here.)

The Jan. 12 sentencing stems from Gentry Debord’s October 2016 guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery. He admitted that in 2007 he began a corrupt relationship with Francis. In addition to his 30-month prison sentence, U.S. District Judge Janis L. Sammartino ordered Debord to pay a $15,000 fine and $37,000 in restitution to the Navy.

As part of the scheme, between 2007 and 2013, Debord accepted cash, luxury hotels and the services of prostitutes from Francis in exchange for proprietary Navy information that benefitted GDMA. During this period, Debord served as a supply officer aboard the U.S.S. Essex and later as a logistics officer for the Pacific Fleet.

Debora further admitted that he:

provided Francis and others with internal, proprietary U.S. Navy information;

directed Francis and GDMA to inflate invoices to reflect services not rendered;

advocated for the U.S. Navy to procure items from GDMA under its husbanding contracts; and

used his position and influence in the U.S. Navy to advocate for and advance GDMA’s interests.

For Fat Leonard, conning the U.S. Navy was a big piece of cake.

The Navy allowed the worst corruption scandal in its history to fester for several years by dismissing a flood of evidence that the rotund Asian defense contractor was cheating the service out of millions of dollars and bribing officers with booze, sex and lavish dinners, newly released ­documents show.

The Singapore-based contractor, Leonard Glenn Francis, found it especially easy to outwit the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), the renowned law enforcement agency that has inspired one of the longest-running cop shows on television.

Starting in 2006, in response to a multitude of fraud complaints, NCIS opened 27 separate investigations into Francis’s company, Glenn Defense Marine Asia. In each of those instances, however, NCIS closed the case after failing to dig up sufficient evidence to take action against the firm, according to hundreds of pages of law enforcement records ­obtained by The Washington Post under the Freedom of ­Information Act.

Known as Fat Leonard for his 350-pound physique, Francis held lucrative contracts to resupply U.S. warships and submarines in ports throughout Asia. He was also legendary within the Navy for throwing hedonistic parties, often with prostitutes, to entertain ­sailors.